Music at Midday

Fridays, 12:15-1 pm
National City Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
5 Thomas Circle NW
 Social distancing and masks required. Free admission; donations accepted.
Detailed information at www.nationalcitycc.org or contact the Rev. Dr. J. Michael McMahon at mmcmahon@nationalcitycc.org. 

May 27: Organist Matthew Dion (Houston, Texas) will perform works by Guy Weitz, François Couperin, J.S. Bach, Gabriel Pierné, Florence Price and Jeanne Demessieux.
 
June 3: Organist Carol Feather Martin (Arlington, VA) will present “Oberlin Connections,” featuring music by David Hurd, Calvin Hampton, David Arcus, Christa Rakich, William Grant Still and Angela Kraft Cross.
 
June 10: Organist Vincent Carr (Verona, NJ) will celebrate the gifts of the LGBTQ community at our annual Pride Recital, performing music of Jean Baptiste de Lully, Billy Strayhorn, Alec Wyton, Kris Rizzotto, Ethel Smyth, Paul Ayres (Sonata over the Rainbow), Ned Rorem and Mark Miller.
 
June 17: Organist and composer Carson Cooman (Cambridge, MA) will perform music of three living composers: Günther Firlinger, Carlotta Ferrari and Thomas Åberg.
 
June 24: Organist Sondra Goldsmith Proctor (Canton, NY) will perform a program of music by Herman Berlinski, Frank Bridge, Rachel Laurin and the unmatched Johann Sebastian Bach, who gets the last note of our spring concert season.
  
There will be no Music at Midday concerts during July and August. Weekly performances will resume on Friday, Sept. 9.

Organ Events 

Tuesday, May 24, 12:10 pm:  Organist Jeff Kempskie, director of music at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Capitol Hill, performs works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Howells and Persichetti. Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW.

Saturday, May 29, 2 pm: Kimberly Marshall, professor of organ at Arizona State University, plays a Memorial Day concert at Washington National Cathedral. The concert opens with Sharon Willis’s Exodus Suite, a tribute to Harriet Tubman. Composed on the eve of World War II, Jehan Alain’s Deuils (Mourning), is subtitled: a funeral dance to honor a heroic memory. The other French work on the program is César Franck’s Pièce héroïque, perhaps recalling the bravery of French soldiers during the Prussian invasion of Paris in 1870-71. A more generic portrayal of war is heard in a seventeenth-century Portuguese “battle” piece, where organ sounds depict calvary attacks and retreating soldiers. The Organ Mass: L’homme armé by Margaret Sandresky bases each of its movements on a popular medieval tune, “the armed man,” integrating sacred and secular. This concert is free. Tickets are not required to attend this concert in-person. Registration is required to view this concert online. Registrants will be sent a link to view the concert on May 29.

Friday, June 3, 7 pm: The Spring Potomac Organ Institute Student Recital takes place at St. George’s Episcopal Church, 915 N. Oakland St., Arlington. This year’s class of six outstanding students will perform on the new Pasi organ. 
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Saturday, June 11: Auditions for the Potomac Organ Institute's 2022-2023 academic year. If you know of a promising piano student with potential for beginning organ study, please contact Peter Crisafulli at peter.crisafulli@allsaintschurch.net and/or Carolyn Booth atclbmuscmkr@aol.com.

Sunday, June 12, 4 pm: Organist Peggy Haas Howell of Lynchburg, VA, plays selections from Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier on the Baroque temperament Howell organ at Georgetown Lutheran Church, 1556 Wisconsin Ave. NW, as part of organist Stephen Ackert's series commemorating the WTC's 300th anniversary. Donations will benefit the Georgetown Ministry Center, which works to end homelessness.
  
Tuesday, June 14, 12:10 pm:  Celebrating Juneteenth at Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW, with organist Paul Byssainthe Jr., director of music at Sligo Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Takoma Park. 

July 17-21: Hymn Society of the United States and Canada annual conference at Catholic University. ​Advance registration rates are available through June 15. Click here for complete information or to register online. 

Sunday, Sept. 25, 2 pm: Cathedral Day Organ Recital at Washington National Cathedral presented by staff organist Thomas Sheehan.

Sunday, Nov. 20, 2 pm: Thanksgiving recital at Washington National Cathedral by Alcee Chriss, university organist and artist-in-residence at Wesleyan University.

Sunday, Dec. 25, 1:30 pm: Washington National Cathedral organist Thomas Sheehan presents a program of festive Christmas music.

Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, 2 pm: Celebrate President’s Day at Washington National Cathedral with Hans Uwe Hielscher, the former organist and carillonneur of Wiesbaden’s Marktkirche, in an afternoon of music that commemorates our nation’s history.

Sunday, April  9, 2023, 2 pm: Washington National Cathedral organist Thomas Sheehan celebrates the joy of Easter with a selection of uplifting music.

Sunday, May 28, 2023, 2 pm: A guest organist presents a Memorial Day recital at Washington National Cathedral.

Tuesday, July 4, 2023, 11 am: Independence Day concert at Washington National Cathedral.